Top three pound-for-pound fighters

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Who is the world's best fighter regardless of weight class? See my Top 20 below.

And don't forget to check out the divisional rankings, which are updated weekly.

For a list of the current champions in all weight classes, click here.

Note: Results are through Oct. 19.

1. MANNY PACQUIAO

Welterweight titlist Record: 51-3-2, 38 KOs Age: 31 Pacquiao Hits: If Floyd Mayweather Jr. won't fight Pacquiao, so be it. The PacMan was ready, willing and able to meet him Nov. 13, with full drug testing in the lead-up to the fight. But Mayweather decided he wanted no part of it -- and wound up in legal trouble anyway. So Pacquiao will carry on with his career, gunning for a title in a record-extending eighth weight division. Misses: Unfortunately, Pacquiao is facing Antonio Margarito, an opponent who isn't worthy of sharing the same ring with Pacquiao -- based not only on Margarito's hand-wrap scandal and suspension but also on his most recent ring results, a brutal knockout loss to Shane Mosley two fights ago and a sloppy win against a journeyman in May.

2. FLOYD MAYWEATHER JR.

Welterweight Record: 41-0, 25 KOs Age: 33 Mayweather Hits: He has a perfect record, titles in five classes, a spot on the pound-for-pound list and an eventual spot in the International Boxing Hall of Fame. And he has been one of the very best in recent boxing history, even if he didn't always fight the opponents the public and press wanted to see him tangle with most. But you can't argue with the results. Misses: Instead of making tens of millions of dollars by taking on Pacquiao in the fight the world wants to see, Mayweather decided to take "a vacation." Ultimately, with so much time on his hands, Mayweather got himself in all kinds of trouble: a vile, racist and homophobic video rant he went on against Pacquiao, plus the eight charges filed against him by Las Vegas authorities stemming from an alleged domestic incident involving the mother of his children. What a shame that Mayweather will end this year having fought only four times since 2007.

3. PAUL WILLIAMS

Middleweight Record: 39-1, 27 KOs Age: 29 Williams Hits: In a year with so few really big fights to get excited about, Williams and Sergio Martinez will fight in one of the biggest on Nov. 20 when Williams challenges for the middleweight title. He and Martinez waged a truly sensational nontitle battle last December, which Williams won via a heavily disputed majority decision. The rematch ought to be another tremendous battle, one that all boxing fans should be looking forward to. Misses: Although Williams got the technical-decision win against Kermit Cintron in May, it looked like he was in for a very rough night before the bout was short-circuited in the fourth round when Cintron fell out of the ring and the fight was stopped. We'll always wonder what would have been if the fight had continued.

Click here for Nos. 4-20.

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Dan Rafael

Boxing

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• ESPN.com boxing writer since 2005
• Writes pound-for-pound rankings
• Five years at USA Today